"Bored!"
He drew out the word.
"Buh-ored!
He repeated, his voice cracking on the first syllable.
"Find something to do then. I'm trying to finish my homework."
She waved him off and slid her fingers across the touch screen of her laptop.
"Bu-ut, Sta-ace…there's nuh-uhthing to do!"
"Go up to the attic then."
The boy was silent for a moment.
"There's nothing interesting up there."
"How do you know? Have you been up there?
"Have you?"
"Touché, Henry."
Stacey put her laptop on standby and stood up.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to the attic. Coming with?"
Henry thought for a moment before joining his sister.
"I will, but it's just to protect you, all right?"
Stacey wrapped her arm around his neck and gave him a noogie.
"C'mon, Squirt."
The two walked up the stairs, and Stacey pulled on the string hanging from the ceiling to pull down the staircase. Stacey started up the steps, and Henry stayed close behind. While Stacey groped around for a light switch, Henry noticed a figure sitting in a chair by one of the windows.
"St-stace…Stace…Stace!"
Stacey found the light switch and flipped on the light.
"Clown!"
Stacey glanced at the figure in the chair and then looked down at her brother. He had his arms wrapped around her, and his head was under her arm.
"Do you know where your head is?"
Henry was silent for a moment, and then he pulled away, disgusted, wiping at his hair. Stacey smiled at him and looked back at the figure.
"Hey, I know who this is."
She knocked on the figure's sculpted, painted hair.
"Who?
"Ronald McDonald. He's like McDonald's mascot. Don't you recognize him?
"I think I would remember McDonald's having a clown."
"Well, they did when Mom and Dad were kids."
Stacey turned away from the statue to look around the attic.
"And you said the wasn't anything interesting up here."
"Fine. Whatever. Can we go now? That clown is looking at me."
"Wait a minute, Squirt. I wanna keep--woop!"
"Stace!"
Stacey pulled herself up so she could see what tripped her. A Jansport backpack. It had once been green, and the zipper pulls showed signs of rust. Henry started toward her, but he noticed a cardboard box beside her. He opened it, and Stacey stood beside him.
"What is this?"
The box was filled with papers. Old writing papers. Old newspapers. Old books.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
Chemistry 101.
Biology.
"A Real Life Sleeping Beauty".
"The Tale of Ranger Sissy".
The "Tale" was the title of several sheaves of paper, neatly sewn together in little books. Stacey looked into the box and stood up.
"And I think we just found the most interesting thing of all."
She picked up the box and headed for the stairs.
"What?"
Henry stayed rooted to the spot, confused.
"Will you get the backpack, please? It says here it's part of the mystery, too."
Henry grabbed the backpack. He glanced back at the clown statue, shivered, and ran after his sister. In the living room, Stacey had arranged the books of the "Tale" on the coffee table. Henry grabbed up one and looked at it carefully.
"Sissy? Wasn't that Mom's old nickname?"
"Why do you think I'm so interested?"
She took the first book and sat on the couch.
"Want to read it with me?"
"Sure."
Henry plopped down beside her as she turned to the first page.
"Okay, 'the Tale of Ranger Sissy', Book 1..."